(Marion) – The Marion boys basketball team was 2.3 seconds away from avenging a lopsided December loss to the fifth-ranked team in the state Tuesday night, but San Antonio-Cole’s Silas Livingston took an inbounds pass in the backcourt, dribbled and hopped across the midcourt stripe, and burried a desperation three from 40 feet out as time expired to give the Cougars a 63-61 win on the Bulldogs’ home court.
The gut-wrenching loss drops Marion to 6-3 in District 26-3A, 16-3 overall, while Cole remains alone in first place with a 9-0 district mark and a 15-5 season record.
Marion trailed by as many as eight points in the first quarter, clawed back to briefly go up by four in the second, and settled for a 34-33 lead at halftime after Cole’s Trey Blackmore knocked down a mid-range jumper at the buzzer.
The Cougars built a 47-39 lead in the third period and took a 49-43 cushion into the fourth, but the Bulldogs fought back to lead by four late in the final frame.
Cole put together a run to take a 60-59 lead down the stretch, and Samuel Montoya’s offensive rebound and follow shot gave Marion a one-point lead with less than a minute to play.
Blackmore missed a difficult double-pump scoop shot for the potential lead with three seconds to play, and Montoya was immediately fouled after hauling in the defensive rebound. Montoya missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Cole called a timeout to set up the final play against Marion’s full-court press.
There is no video review in high school basketball, but footage of the final play shows that Livingston traveled before releasing the game-winning shot, and that the clock expired before he released it.
Despite the disappointing finish, Marion head coach Jon Allen’s takeaways are only positive after watching his team fight toe-to-toe against an opponent that beat the Bulldogs 69-41 on Dec. 30.
“They didn’t do anything wrong,” Allen said. “They did everything right. That shot is what it is, and it ain’t the only time it’s ever happened to me. But the good thing is, it’s not the last game of the year. We’ve still got a lot more games to play, and playing a game like that against a team like this, that last play doesn’t mean anything to me. What means (something) to me is what we did, everything, before that.”
Ryken Autry and Easton Allen each scored 18 points to lead Marion offensively after combining for only nine in the December meeting. Autry and Allen went a combined 12-15 on total field goal attempts and 5-6 from three-point range.
Montoya finished with 11 points off the bench and grabbed critical rebounds on both ends of the court in the game’s closing stretch.
“He’s a senior and probably could be starting for us, but he relishes coming off the bench and being that sparkplug for us, and he does a great job,” Coach Allen said of Montoya.
Fernando Romero added seven points, Kadeem Blyden three, Jon Padron and Dominic Castellanos two apiece. Blyden grabbed five rebounds, and Autry dished out a team-high four assists.
The Bulldogs shot 52.4 percent overall (22-42) and 43.8 percent from three-point range (7-16) after hitting just 39 percent of their field goals and going 2-13 from three in the December loss to Cole.
Coach Allen commended his team for approaching the rematch with the right mindset.
“Our whole mentality was being aggressive,” Allen said. “Attacking on offense, attacking on defense. We weren’t on our heels on defense this time. We were up in their face when we needed to be, and offensively, we were setting more screens.”
Cole’s Blackmore led all scorers with 33 points. Livingston’s buzzer beater lifted his game total to 14.
Marion looks to bounce back Friday in San Antonio with a 6:30 p.m. road game against Great Hearts-Northern Oaks.
Marion girls suffer district road loss to Cole
(San Antonio) – The Cole girls basketball team completed a two-game head-to-head sweep of Marion in District 26-3A Tuesday night, handing the Bulldogs a 77-41 loss in San Antonio.
Sarah Cooke scored 18 points to lead Marion offensively. Molly Rooke and Jaslyne Williams each put in nine, and Rooke snared a team-high eight rebounds.
Anessa Madrid dished out three assists and collected four steals. Madrid and Alicia Durbin netted two points apiece. Nina Brittain hit a free throw.
The Bulldogs are 4-6 in district play, 7-14 overall. Marion hosts Great Hearts-Northern Oaks on Friday at 5:30 p.m.